Aerospace Medicine
Aerospace Medicine practitioners ensure the health and safety of people working and traveling in unique, often extreme, environments. Learn how to achieve board certification in this exciting specialty.
Specialty Overview
Aerospace Medicine focuses on the clinical care, research, and operational support of the health, safety, and performance of air and space vehicle crew members, passengers, and support personnel.
This population often works and lives in remote, isolated, extreme, or enclosed environments under conditions of physical and psychological stress. Aerospace Medicine specialists strive for an optimal human-machine match in occupational settings rich with environmental hazards and engineering countermeasures.
General Requirements
- Medical License – An unrestricted and currently valid license(s) to practice medicine in a State, the District of Columbia, a Territory, Commonwealth, or possession of the United States or in a Province of Canada is required. If the applicant has licenses in multiple states, no license may be restricted, revoked, or suspended or currently under such notice.
- For the International Medical Graduate Pathway only: Applicants must be a member in good standing (or equivalent) in at least one country’s medical licensing body.
- Medical Degree – Graduation from a medical school in the United States which at the time of the applicant’s graduation was accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, a school of osteopathic medicine approved by the American Osteopathic Association, an accredited medical school in Canada, or from a medical school located outside the United States and Canada that is deemed satisfactory to the Board is required.
- Graduate Coursework – At least 15 total equivalent hours of graduate-level courses are required in the core coursework areas of biostatistics, epidemiology, social and behavioral sciences, health services administration and environmental health sciences. The minimum 15 credit hours of coursework should appropriately reflect the 5 content areas listed above to ensure applicants are well grounded in foundational public health knowledge and should be graduate level courses. Courses that may include multiple content areas must meet the equivalent academic requirements and content of the traditional individual courses. Undergraduate courses and course work in medical school will not be considered to meet these requirements.
Pathway Requirements Overview
There are multiple pathways available to achieve board certification in Aerospace Medicine.
Find out easily for which pathway you may be qualified reviewing the Aerospace Medicine Requirements Table.
Pathway Requirements
If you are not sure which pathway is best for you, view our Requirements Table to compare the pathways.
Residency Pathway
This pathway is open to all applicants who have completed an ACGME-accredited or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) Aerospace Medicine residency of not less than two years.
Physicians who entered a residency with advanced standing and therefore have completed only one year of an Aerospace Medicine residency should also apply via the residency pathway.
Full Residency Pathway Requirements
Clinical Training
A year of postgraduate clinical training provided as part of a graduate medical education program accredited by the ACGME, ACGME International, the American Osteopathic Association, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, or the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Clinical training must include at least ten months of direct patient care comprising ambulatory and inpatient experience involving diagnostic workup and treatment of individual patients.
Residency Training
Completion of an ACGME-accredited or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) residency training program which is accredited in Aerospace Medicine and provides supervised experience in Aerospace Medicine practice.
Graduate Coursework
Successful completion of a course of graduate academic study and award of a Master of Public Health or equivalent masters or doctoral postgraduate degree; the course content must include epidemiology, biostatistics, health services administration, environmental health sciences, and social and behavioral sciences.
Current Practice
If it has been 24 months since the applicant completed their residency program, they must have been practicing in or in training for, Aerospace Medicine for at least one of the past three years.
Documents and Verifications
- Graduate coursework transcript: must be requested by the applicant from their educational institution and sent directly to the ABPM.
- Residency program verification, completed by the Program Director.
- If 24 months or more past the residency completion date:
- CV/Resume
- Three letters of reference; at least one of which must be written by a diplomate certified by ABPM in Aerospace Medicine.
Complementary Pathway
The complementary pathway is designed to accommodate physicians who wish to make a mid-career shift into Aerospace Medicine.
Full Complementary Pathway Requirements
Clinical Training
Two years of supervised postgraduate clinical training provided as part of a graduate medical education program accredited by one of the organizations listed below:
- ACGME
- ACGME International
- American Osteopathic Association
- Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
- College of Family Physicians of Canada
The training must include at least ten months of direct patient care comprising ambulatory and inpatient experience involving diagnostic workup and treatment of individual patients.
Residency Training
A year of Aerospace Medicine residency training which is accredited by the ACGME and provides supervised experience in the practice of Aerospace Medicine.
The Aerospace Medicine residency program must include at least eight months of direct patient care.
Graduate Coursework
Successful completion of a course of graduate academic study and award of a Master of Public Health or equivalent masters or doctoral postgraduate degree; the course content must include epidemiology, biostatistics, health services administration, environmental health sciences, and social and behavioral sciences.
Current Practice
A minimum of two years of full-time Aerospace Medicine practice within the previous five years. Practice time is counted through June 30th of the application year. Practice cannot be during or concurrent with ACGME-accredited training.
Documents and Verifications
- CV/Resume
- Graduate coursework transcript: must be requested by the applicant from their educational institution and sent directly to the ABPM.
- Residency program verification, completed by the Program Director.
- Three letters of reference; at least one of which must be written by a diplomate certified by ABPM in Aerospace Medicine.
Special Pathway
Current diplomates of the American Board of Preventive Medicine who possess certification in a primary specialty (Aerospace Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine) may apply for one additional ABPM primary specialty certification through the special pathway.
The special pathway may be used by a physician to qualify for only one additional ABPM specialty certificate. Subject to all eligibility requirements, a third (or more) ABPM certificate may be obtained by a single physician exclusively through the residency pathway.
Diplomates with subspecialty certification (Addiction Medicine; Clinical Informatics; Health Care Administration, Leadership, and Management (HALM); Medical Toxicology; and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine) do not qualify for the special pathway.
Full Special Pathway Requirements
Board Certification
An ABPM specialty certification.
Practice Activity
A minimum of two years of full-time Aerospace Medicine practice within the previous five years. Practice time is counted through June 30th of the application year. Practice cannot be during or concurrent with ACGME-accredited training.
Documents and Verifications
- CV/Resume
- Three letters of reference; at least two of which must be written by diplomates certified by ABPM in Aerospace Medicine.
International Medical Graduate (IMG) Pathway
This pathway applies to qualified IMGs who have successfully completed the educational and training requirements in Aerospace Medicine programs accredited by organizations other than ACGME and have achieved Aerospace Medicine certification in another country other than the US or Canada, or by another certification organization deemed equivalent by ABPM.
Full IMG Pathway Requirements
Board Certification
Current Aerospace Medicine certification in the country of training or practice is required. The certification body must be recognized as a national certification organization and meet certification standards considered by ABPM to be equivalent to the ABMS Standards for Initial Certification and ABPM Aerospace Medicine certification.
Medical License
Applicants must be a member in good standing (or equivalent) in at least one country’s medical licensing body.
Clinical Training
One year of clinical Aerospace Medicine experience is required as part of Aerospace Medicine residency training.
Residency
Completion of Aerospace Medicine residency training at least two consecutive years in length and which includes at least one year of clinical Aerospace Medicine experience is required.
The residency training must include written standards for the training that, after appropriate investigation and due diligence by ABPM, are deemed to be sufficiently equivalent to the then-current ACGME Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Aerospace Medicine.
The residency program must be accredited by one of the following:
- A recognized international health or government authority or organization within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), that currently include the following: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom; or within these non-NATO countries: Australia, New Zealand, and Japan;
- A recognized international health or government authority or organization within any country not listed in #1 above but is deemed, after appropriate investigation and due diligence, by ABPM to be equivalent to ACGME-accredited training within the U.S.; or
- ACGME-International with Advanced Specialty Accreditation.
Graduate Coursework
Successful completion of a course of graduate academic study and award of a Master of Public Health or equivalent masters or doctoral postgraduate degree; the course content must include epidemiology, biostatistics, health services administration, environmental health sciences, and social and behavioral sciences.
Practice/Residency Location
Applicants must attest to the fact that either:
- They intend to reside or practice within the U.S. within 24 months of the date of application for certification, or
- They practice outside the U.S. but that practice serves U.S. interests.
Documents and Verifications
- Current CV/resume
- Verification of current Aerospace Medicine certification in the country of training or practice
- Verification of good standing (or equivalent) in at least one country’s medical licensing body
- Graduate coursework transcript
- Residency program verification, which includes that residency training included at least one year of clinical Aerospace Medicine experience
- Three letters of reference from physician peers who have appropriate training in Aerospace Medicine; each letter must confirm the applicant’s medical professionalism, professional standing, communication, fitness for the practice of Aerospace Medicine, and the qualify of the Applicant’s patient care.
- Practice/residency location attestations: Applicants must attest to their intention to reside or practice in the U.S. within 24 months of submitting their application or, if practicing outside the U.S., must attest that their practice serves U.S. interests.
Specialty FAQS
Exam Information
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